This invention relates to glass for a light filter and also to a light filter using glass.
There are light filters which cut or pass light of a specific wavelength and there are also light filters which reduce intensity of light without depending upon wavelength. The former includes a band-pass filter which passes only a specific wavelength, a notch pass filter which cuts a specific wavelength and high-pass and low-pass filters which pass only wavelengths shorter or longer than a specific wavelength. The latter includes an ND filter.
Light filters can be classified also into an absorption type filter and an interference type filter. A representative absorption type filter is the ND filter and a representative interference type filter is the band-pass filter. A substrate made of plastic is used for absorption type filters such as those for photography. Since a substrate for light filters which are subject to a strong laser beam requires durability and heat resistance property, amorphous glass is exclusively employed for such substrate.
The band-pass filters are made by forming, on a substrate made of, e.g., glass, a multi-layer film of dielectric by alternately laminating an H layer of a dielectric thin film having a high refractive index and an L layer of a dielectric thin film having a low refractive index.
In a band-pass filter which is used for the WDM(wavelength division multiplexing) optical communication system, temperature stability of the center wavelength of the band poses a problem when a narrow band width for passing wavelengths is set for applying the band-pass filter to a wavelength of a higher density. More specifically, the band-pass filter is a sensitive element in which the center frequency of the band varies even with a slight variation in temperature and, therefore, temperature compensation should be made by a temperature controller when the band-pass filter is used. Such temperature controller, however, cannot actually be employed because of limitation in the space where the band-pass filter is located. The temperature stability has become a matter of increasing importance since it is necessary to reduce the band width as the amount of light information increases.
In the past, amorphous glass has been used as a substrate for the band-pass filter. This prior art substrate is not sufficient in its compressive stress to the film and its durability since its thermal expansion property and mechanical strength are not sufficiently high. Further, amorphous glass has a low surface hardness. Thus, amorphous glass cannot sufficiently satisfy the demands for a substrate for a light filter, particularly a substrate for a band-pass filter.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a material suitable for a substrate for a light filter which has eliminated the above described disadvantages of the prior art substrate and has a thermal expansion property which is sufficient for avoiding variation in the refractive index at a temperature at which a filter formed with a mono-layer or multi-layer film is used (i.e., having a high coefficient of thermal expansion and thereby imparting compressive stress to the film to improve temperature stability of the refractive index of the film) and also has a mechanical property which imparts sufficient durability to the filter and further has excellent light transmittance.
It is, another object of the invention to provide a light filter made of such substrate.